So the  Google fan that I am I see ZDnet article today called Printer drivers: A thing of the past? Google, HP seem to think so and start reading, then start getting concerned – concerned enough about the future of my files to go searching for the original Google post on the Chromium blog. So let’s get started with a visual of how Google Cloud Print would work.

Google Cloud Print visual

To understand where Google is coming from, let’s grab this bit of text from their post explaining the WHY of cloud printing…

While the emergence of cloud and mobile computing has provided users with access to information and personal documents from virtually any device, today’s printers still require installing drivers which makes printing impossible from most of these new devices. Developing and maintaining print subsystems for every combination of hardware and operating system– from desktops to netbooks to mobile devices — simply isn’t feasible.

- Chromium blog, A New Approach to Printing
April 15, 2010

So the main point Google is emphasizing is that due to the fact that all Chrome OS  application are web-based, and they evidently don’t feel like porting like a million different print drivers and thus bloating the OS, and since everything else is web-based anyway – why not run printing jobs through the web.

Well, here are my concerns…

  • about to print an important document on your Chrome OS computer and Comcast (or whatever ISP) goes out, no printing!
  • printing first thing in the AM when “everyone” is on the Internet
  • printing @ lunch when “everyone” is on the Internet
  • printing @ the end of the work day when “everyone” is on the Internet
  • privacy concerns

I love Google, and I think Chrome OS would be pretty cool, but I just don’t know about this cloud printing thing. What do you think, please drop a comment.

MORE ON CHROME OS

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Video: Chrome OS Demo
About Chrome OS (Chrome OS website)